Online shopping faces big hurdles in Tijuana. Amazon hopes to change that

Like galore Amazon shoppers, Sergio Rodriguez Sanchez saw his online buying habits—mostly location goods and room gadgets—escalate arsenic the pandemic wore on.

Now it's much of ingrained wont for the operations specialist. One caller weekday, Rodriguez waited astatine his flat successful the La Mesa vicinity of Tijuana for Amazon's extracurricular transportation service, Estafeta, to present a fancy h2o carafe helium had ordered online. "I conscionable emotion to surf connected Amazon and past get immoderate I want," said the 38-year-old bachelor.

Online buying is fast-growing successful Mexico, but not yet arsenic ubiquitous arsenic it is northbound of the border. E-commerce successful Mexico faced immoderate of the aforesaid challenges it faced successful India: debased Internet use, unreliable networks, degrading roads, anemic postal code systems and the deficiency of wide usage of recognition cards. Deliveries cannot beryllium near astatine doors unattended successful Tijuana, immoderate shoppers say, truthful the lawsuit has to hold successful the location until the transportation comes, which tin beryllium inconvenient.

Mexico e-commerce was valued astatine $15.8 cardinal successful 2020—an 81 percent summation implicit 2019, accounting for 9 percent of the country's full retail sales, according to the Mexican Online Sales Association. By comparison, online retail arsenic a percent of full income successful the United States topped 15% during the archetypal months of the coronavirus pandemic, and was 13% successful the 3rd 4th of 2021, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Amazon is betting Mexico's marketplace volition proceed to make rapidly arsenic customers turn accustomed to the convenience. In September, Amazon Mexico opened a $22 cardinal fulfillment halfway connected the bluish borderline of the borderline city. And successful a promotional video, acceptable to beryllium released crossed Mexico soon, the institution says it is aiming for same-day transportation connected definite products to Amazon Prime members successful 7 cities, including successful Tijuana. Next-day transportation is going to beryllium offered successful much than 50 Mexican cities and 2 days for the remainder of the country, according to Sandra de la Vega, an Amazon subordinate featured successful the promo.

First photos of the caller Amazon fulfillment halfway by Tijuana-based photojournalist Omar Martínez went viral due to the fact that of the opposition they showed betwixt the monolithic e-commerce elephantine and the utmost poorness of the surrounding community. The photos besides highlighted the deficiency of suitable lodging successful Baja California, prompting concerns astir what the company's beingness means for residents of the Nueva Esperanza squatter vicinity surrounding the warehouse.

Nearly a 4th of the colonisation successful Baja California lives successful poverty, according to 2020 statistic provided by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), a decentralized nationalist assemblage of Mexico's Federal Public Administration. That compares with 13.8 percent successful San Diego. But astir a cardinal Americans instrumentality vantage of little costly rents to unrecorded southbound of the border, leaving them with much disposable income and purchasing power. An Amazon institution spokeswoman declined to disclose what percent of the company's customers successful the borderline portion are U.S. citizens surviving successful Baja.

For Rodriguez and different Mexicans who store online, the allure of Amazon is the aforesaid arsenic elsewhere: its velocity and lawsuit service. Rodriguez said helium erstwhile received a portion of breached furnishings that arrived successful a container that had been banged up during the transportation process. Returns successful Mexico are rare—once a lawsuit purchases an point astatine a accepted brick-and-mortar retailer, the merchantability is usually final—so Rodriguez figured helium was going to person to spell back-and-forth betwixt Amazon and the extracurricular transportation company. But the e-commerce elephantine instantly took responsibility.

"They conscionable wholly refunded the purchase," Rodriguez said, amazed.

According to Statista, Amazon was the second-largest online retailer successful Mexico successful 2020, down Mercado Libre (which means "free market" successful Spanish.) Argentina-based Mercado Libre had a 13.6 percent stock of full e-commerce income successful Mexico; Amazon ranked 2nd with 11.6 percent.

Some customers told the Union-Tribune they preferred the prime of products delivered by Amazon implicit Mercado Libre.

"Mercado Libre volition sometimes nonstop items that are used, but Amazon ever has the newer products," said Alberto Lugán, a 60-year-old from Monterrey who was doing Christmas buying astatine Las Americas outlet promenade successful precocious November.

Before Amazon Mexico arrived successful 2015, galore affluent Mexican consumers were buying from the U.S. website and paying other to vessel products crossed the border. Those successful borderline regions similar Baja California tin wage for a U.S. postal bureau container and vessel their items there, crossing into the U.S. to prime them up.

"Amazon successful the U.S. volition nonstop items to Mexico but it tin beryllium expensive, truthful I conscionable asked for a station container successful Calexico and I prime up my purchases determination successful Calexico," said Gabriela Montoya, a 39-year-old parent and pupil who lives successful Mexicali, conscionable connected the different broadside of the borderline from Calexico.

From Amazon Mexico, Montoya has bought toys for her daughter, tennis shoes, a selfie instrumentality and acquisition items specified arsenic achromatic boards and books.

Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers successful Mexico person lagged successful tapping into the afloat imaginable of e-commerce due to the fact that they haven't been capable to lucifer Amazon's lawsuit service, said Flavio Olivieri, an economical improvement specializer successful Tijuana.

"I tried to bid immoderate pants for my ma from Sears online and they kept sending the incorrect pants and ne'er got it right," said Olivieri.

In Mexico, arsenic successful India, Amazon has partnered with brick-and-mortar stores—mostly "mom-and-pop" benignant bodegas—to connection much localized services and in-store pickup. Marisa Vano, a institution spokeswoman, said that work has not yet been launched successful Tijuana, "but we are readying to proceed expanding this bundle pickup web crossed the state and we are actively looking for much businesses to join."

"With the caller motorboat of Amazon lockers and counters successful Mexico, we are aiming to empower businesses of each sizes (including mom-and-pop stores) to leverage our lawsuit basal and blase exertion to physique their business," said Vano.

---

---

©2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.